Progressive Values Stories: Michelle on Values or Non-values is Insulting

by WhatAre Progressive Values [courtesy of Blog for America]

  We interviewed Michelle on Earth Day when she was cleaning up Lake Merritt in Oakland, California.    She's a lawyer and was very careful about the definition and meaning of the words; values, progressive, liberal, conservative, etc.   She sees complexity in these words and doesn't like to generalize. However, she did see equality, fairness and social justice as core liberal values.  Michelle also talked about how she finds it insulting the way conservatives talk about values and imply only they have them.

Progressive Values Stories: Michelle Discussing Values

Michelle:  I think everybody talks about values.  The idea that values are this very short list of maybe ten things that people talk about – we all talk about values, whether you are on the right or left, you opinions are routed in your ideas of right and wrong, and what you think the world should look like.  And those are people’s values. 

I think to divide the list of politicians or people with values or non-values, is kind of insulting.